Governor Visits to Learn More about AT
IATP had the pleasure of hosting Governor JB Pritzker and his leadership team from the Illinois Department on Aging, the Illinois Department of Human Services, and the Division of Rehabilitation Services. The Governor met with staff members from various IATP programs to learn how IATP serves Illinoisans of all ages with disabilities and health conditions, providing them with greater access to assistive technology devices and services. Contact us to learn more about IATP and our programs.
Halloween Core Board
Halloween is fun – dressing up in costumes, going to parties, and trick-or-treating – but it can be stressful for children with communication difficulties. A core board for communication can help, allowing children to point to symbols and words on the page to communicate their wants and needs with others. Download a free Halloween-specific communication handout to use this Halloween season!
Learn more about IATP programs and their impact.
IATP at the Abilities Expo
The Abilities Expo had over 3,600 attendees in three days. IATP was the showcase exhibit and was one of the best attended exhibits. We had some Smart Home AT, a 3-D printer, AAC devices and ADL’s for all disabilities. It was great seeing old friends and make new friends.
If you couldn’t attend this year – come see us next year at the Abilities Expo in Schamburg, IL in 2026!
IATP Judges the IDEA State Design Competition Finals
IATP Makers worked with the Illinois Design Educators Association (IDEA) helping to inspire a prompt for their engineering design competition. High school teams from across the state come up with a design solution for a prompt provided. The Maker team reached out to Michael Knepler, a member of the IATP board of directors, who has a spinal cord injury, to ask what product he would like to challenge students to create. He requested a grabber that was more efficient than the typical commercial grabber products that are readily available and that would be more suitable to his needs.
Teams first competed at the regional level, then winning teams moved to compete at the state level. The Makers team and Michael were a part of the judging panel at the state competition to decide the winning product.
Congratulations to Plano High School (Joe Kampf) students Caidan Ronning, Rider Larson and Isaac Uhrich for finishing 1st place! Their “Bat Tool” featured a collapsable grabber that extended to reach objects by pressing a button. IATP also extends congratulations and thanks to all the teams that participated. Overall, the engineering prompt gave students the opportunity to practice engineering skills while designing a needed product for a customer. Contact the Maker team if you are an Illinois resident in need of a unique design that you would like to submit for consideration for next year’s competition.
IATP Recent Activities
ISU SEAT Center Spring Open House – Focus on IATP Makers
IATP has partnered with the Illinois State University (ISU) Special Education Assistive Technology (SEAT) Center throughout the 2024-2025 academic year on a variety of activities and events aimed at strengthening the knowledge of AT devices and services for students preparing to become teachers in both general and special education classrooms.
On March 18, 2025, part two of a training series offered by IATP at the SEAT Center lab took place during their Spring Open House event. The training was designed to not only familiarize students and faculty with IATP but also focus on targeted topics specific to the integration of AT in the classroom. The March 18th training featured the IATP Makers Program and how custom AT can be designed, manufactured, and implemented across educational settings. Real life case studies highlighting some of the Makers recent success stories along with hands-on demonstrations of devices, helped attendees better understand the process of custom AT fabrication. Participants also discussed ways to identify and build relationships with makers in their own local school districts. Attendees included students and faculty from serval majors such as special education, physical education, music education, family and consumer science, and blind/low vision instruction.
IATP STEAM Activities
The IATP Maker Program has participated in several STEAM-focused IDEA Regional Competitions around Illinois as well as the Career SPARK Expo in Quincy.
Check out the IATP Maker Website to see all upcoming STEAM events.
